Nothing's Gonna Change My World
by kuroame16
Summary: Sequel to Mirror To My World. Changed the title for several reasons. I like this one better.
1. Chapter 1

AN: Sequel! Hoorays! It'll probably be a bit slow to start, since I know where I want this to _go_, the problem is how to get there. And to explain: I don't know all that much about the British school system. From what I understand, there's an optional year or two of school dedicated to studying three chosen subjects to take A-level exams on, which are sort of like SATs (used when applying to colleges and stuff like that). If anyone knows more about it and could help me out if this is completely wrong, please message me and let me know and I'll try to fix this chapter accordingly. Anyway, I'd appreciate sweet, delicious review candy as an Easter gift :)

I stare at the paper in front of me, brow furrowed in concentration as I tap my pencil in a slow rhythm. English and Art I can understand, but I'm wondering if I was anywhere near my right mind when I chose Algebra as my third subject.

Let's see...factor the problem x squared plus 10x plus 25...

Tap, tap, tap. I set down the pencil and start to massage my temples. I'm convinced that A-Level exams were invented as a form of torture by which to weed out the weak-willed and wonder if it's actually worth the weeks of studying if I'm just going to crack under the pressure anyway.

I feel a chin rest lazily on my shoulder and a whisper of that Irish lilt floats to my ear. "This...is..._boring_."

"Too bad. This is important," I explain, not quite believing it myself.

"Why do you want to go to college anyway?" Valentine stands and rests his chin on my head while wrapping his arms around my shoulders.

I think I've had this discussion with him a thousand times already. It never goes anywhere. "To study art, silly."

"But you're already an artist. Why do you have to _study_ to try and be something that you already _are_?"

I smile sarcastically. "Well, apparently the more time you spend being told how to do something, the more people will respect you for doing it." Then I give a slight shrug and try to look on the positive side. "Besides, it's always nice to get better at something you like doing, right?"

"Well, unless any of them have drawn anything that ended up having sentience, I'd say you already have one up on all of them." He kisses my hair while rubbing circles on my arms and leans over to get a better look at the current object of my frustration. "Why do you have to study maths to be an artist?"

I sigh and drum my fingers on the desk. "I don't know. Seemed like a good idea at the time."

Before I can stop him, he snatches up the paper and paces around the room, staring at it intently. "Why are there so many x's? That's just confusing. Adding insult to injury, that's what that is."

"Hey!" I stand and try to grab the worksheet back from him, but he holds it just out of my reach. "Give it back!"

He finally breaks his gaze from the factoring problems and tosses them nonchalantly to the ground. I watch them float down slowly before his voice brings my gaze back to his face. "Let's go do something!"

I shake my head at him and lean down to pick up the worksheet. "I can't."

"Yes, you _can_. You just _won't_."

"Exactly." I sit back down and try to regain my concentration. After a few moments I hear him beat-boxing Rock Your Body (he found it on a mix CD I made years ago. I was going through a short-lived crush on Justin Timberlake at the time. Shut up. You can't tell me you didn't). I look in his direction to see him doing the moonwalk all over the room. He does this any time I'm not paying attention to him when he feels I should be.

He stops mid-step and looks over at me, flashing a wide grin. When I glare in response he pouts, folds his arms, and says "You know, you were a lot more fun when you weren't trying to be so smart."

"Ugh," I roll my eyes and turn back to my work "Just...be patient for a while and I'll try to get this-"

"X plus five squared." He interrupts and I stop my pencil mid-tap.

I slowly shift my gaze and stare at him in disbelief. "_What_?"

"X plus five," he makes little air parenthesis with his hands "squared."

I quickly write down the answer and double check it. "...That's right. How did you-"

He lets his arms drop to his sides and cuts me off again. "Can we _go_ now?"

I smile and let out a defeated yet satisfied sigh. "Yes, we can. Just as soon as you show me how the hell you did that."


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Happy Zombie Jesus Day, everyone! Here's a fluffy little present for you!

I lay across Helena's bed lazily, tossing an orange ball from one hand to the other while staring at the ceiling. She went to get the results from her exams today and hasn't gotten back yet. I want to surprise her, so I've been waiting for her to get home for a little over an hour now.

Aside from the occasional chewing and scratching noises coming from the cage setting on her dresser, the only sounds in the room are my alternating humming, blowing air through my lips, and making clicks with my tongue. Thinking noises.

"Let's see..." I mutter to myself. "Her dad's giving her away, so I guess he's out. The Prime Minister? No...he's way too busy. Besides, it's not like we're all that close." I stretch my arms up over my head and bite my lip in concentration. "Who else do I even _know_?" I sigh as it dawns on me that I don't really have any friends, let alone one I'd ask to do this for me. "This is _really_ sad."

I roll my eyes and turn my gaze to the cage. "I don't suppose _you'd_ like to be the best man, would you Alfie?" Alfie takes a drink from his water bottle. I let out a small chuckle and turn back to the ceiling. "I guess not. So who else?" Yes, I do realize that I'm alone in a room talking to someone who can't say anything back so in essence, I'm talking to myself. I just think better when I do it out loud, that's all. It comes from living in a building that actually _does_ give opinions, albeit not with words. Besides, this _really_ is something I need to figure out, and soon.

An idea crosses my mind. There is _someone_ I know. But I almost immediately dismiss it. "No. Absolutely out of the question. That'd just be..._weird_."

I hear footsteps approaching. I jump to my feet and stand in front of the small cage in an effort to hide my companion. The door opens and Helena steps inside, a small package in her hands. Her gaze falls on me and a bright smile lights up her face. "Hello. I wasn't expecting you quite yet."

I shift a bit awkwardly, not wanting her to notice Alfie yet. "Well, you should know by now to expect the unexpected with me."

She gives me a sideways look, setting the little box on the bed before making her way over slowly. "What are you doing?"

I shove my hands in my pockets and look away, trying my best to hold back a smile. I don't think it's working. "What do you mean? I'm not doing anything."

"What are you hiding?" She tries to look over my shoulder, but I stand on my toes and lean so I'm in her way again.

"Oh, so now you think I'm _hiding_ things." She attempts to sneak pass me, but I continue to block her. "Really, Smiles. Sometimes you can be a bit paranoid." After a few more rounds of monkey in the middle I decide I've had enough fun and step out of her way.

She leans down to Alfie's level, staring in disbelief. "You got me a rabbit?"

"A brown British lop, to be exact. Sort of a 'Happy Easter/ Congratulations for doing so well' or 'sorry you did shyte on your exams' gift, whichever the case may be." I stoop down and open the top of the cage, scooping out the large (and I do mean _large_...they drag on the bottom of the cage) eared animal gently and cooing "Say 'hello' to Helena, Alfie." Alfie looks at her and wiggles his nose.

"Aww." She strokes his fur and gives him a small kiss on the top of his head. "I think I'm in love."

"Careful with that." I tease, covering Alfie's ears playfully. "He might start to get ideas. Then I'd have no choice but to become insanely jealous." I give her a quick kiss and ask "By the way, you never said: is he a blue ribbon or a consolation prize?"

Helena sighs dramatically and looks at her feet. I frown, partly because she worked so hard to learn all those things and partly because it would mean _more_ sitting around and studying and I don't think I could take that. Then she looks back up at me slowly, a cheeky grin on her face. "Two A's and a B."

I sigh with relief as she reaches for her new pet and holds him against her shoulder not unlike a baby. "That's good, right?"

"Yes, Valentine. That's _very_ good." She pets his ears for a moment before looking at him sadly and placing him back in his cage. "I feel sort of bad now. What I got you isn't all that special."

I wave it off. "Oh, whatever. I'm sure I'll love it. It's not like I'm difficult to shop for," I tell her reassuringly. To prove my point, I snatch the gift off the bed and open it dramatically. Inside is an assortment of peppermint candies in the shapes of rabbits, chickens, eggs, and flowers. "Oh, wow. Now _these_ are really great." I pick up a daisy shaped one and inspect it before popping it into my mouth and savoring it's sweetness. Peppermints are my absolute _favorite_ food. I push it to the side of my mouth and grin widely at Helena. "Thanks, love."

She cracks a small smile, not completely satisfied. "It's still not good enough." Then she bites her lip and her smile gets bigger. She reaches under her bed, pulls out some clothing, and throws it into my face. I pull it off of my head and lay the garments in front of me to get a better look at them. A rather stylish white button-up shirt and a pair of equally fashionable jeans. "They were supposed to be an anniversary gift, but I don't think it would hurt to give you them a few months early."

"These are actually really nice." Clothes usually aren't on my list of things I want, but I can definitely make exceptions.

"Good, cause you're putting them on right now." With that she forces my ever-present red shirt off over my head and hands the new one to me.

"Hey!" I protest, more because of the suddenness of her action than being uncomfortable with it. "What are you doing?"

"I'm taking you to lunch, silly. Now hurry up and get changed, before I regain my sanity."

I laugh as I slip the new clothes on and button them up. "Okay, just as long as it's not that French place again. They probably remember me from last time."


	3. Chapter 3

AN: Another chapter here for you! Anyone who can guess the reference to one of my other favorite movies of all time gets a cyber cookie :).

"No, really! I found him on a street corner, juggling for change. Apparently, street performances are illegal there, so he was nearly arrested. That is until my quick wit and silvery tongue came to the rescue." Valentine smiles proudly and adjusts the non-existant lapels of his robe as he sits against the edge of the fountain, the dusk illuminated by hundreds of glowing pixies. "And the rest," he finishes dramatically with a florush of his hands "as they say, is history."

Between laughs, I manage to ask "What were _you_ doing in the business district anyway?" Here all this time I thought he avoided that place like the plague.

"I was lost and penniless. Or maybe it seemed like a good idea at the time. I don't really remember." He shrugs before adding "The important part is that _that_ is how I met my former juggling partner, the infamous Bing."

"How long was that before you met me?" I realize I had asked him a similar question the first time I woke up in this world, but never actually got an answer. I can't help but let what he'd said to me back then make me feel guilty, about losing a best friend to help some little girl.

He picks up a stone and inspects it before turning around to skip it across the water. "A few months, give or take. We were practically inseparable for that time, though. Mainly because we'd realized a pair of jugglers finding each other was like finding a sphinx that's a vegetarian: it just _doesn't_ happen."

"Good thing, too. " I tell him teasingly. "Otherwise, some pretty little thing in a shiny mask would have cascaded her way into your heart long before I ever showed up." I grab one of the discarded balls from our earlier practice session and toss it gently at him.

"Oh, don't be ridiculous." He catches it without looking, throwing it into the air before bouncing it off his shoulder and catching it in his other hand. "I would have been _much_ more concerned with how shiny the contents of her purse were."

I chuckle and give him a playful slap on the arm. "Jerk." I listen to him laugh for a moment before biting my lip and looking at my feet. "Did you really blame me? When he died, I mean."

"Nah, not really." He stretches his legs out in front of him and drums his fingers against themselves thoughtfully. "I mean, at the time I was a bit more concerned with losing most of my act than anything." He looks up and I catch him absently counting pixies on his fingers. "It was sad...but not as sad as other things." He glances at me and shakes his head. "Honestly, love. You get worried over the silliest things."

I consider all this for a moment before responding with a nod and a simple "Okay." With that I look around and start joining him in counting, only I'm counting colors instead of sheer number. Figuring out how many different colors pixies come in is at least _possible_.

Let's see. Red. Orange. Yellow. Green. Purple.

"When are you gonna be starting school?" Valentine breaks the silence in a tone of voice he uses when he's trying (but not succeeding) to be nonchalant as a yellow pixie flies up to his hand and sniffs his fingers curiously before settling in his palm.

"In the fall," I answer as I draw circles in the water with a small stick. "So about five months from now."

He stares intently at his new friend as she walks carefully up his arm to his elbow and replies in that same tone of voice. "Okay. And you'll be there for how long? Two years? More? With all those classes you'll have to take, I'm sure you'll be really busy and all."

I smile to myself and move so that I'm sitting behind him. I pull him back into an embrace and ask him "_Now_ who's worried about silly things?" I feel him sigh and only slightly relax into me. "I'm sure I'll still have time for you."

He reaches up with a strange combination of laziness and intent that only he can pull off and rests his hand against my shoulder. I take it in mine obligingly when I hear speak again, this time sounding a bit like a lost child. "But what if you don't?

I give his knuckles a small kiss before answering reassuringly "Then I'll _make_ time. I always have before."

"Promise."

"I promise."

With that he stands up, pulling me with him and turns to face me. "Say 'I, Helena Campbell," he pulls me close and touches his masked forehead to mine "promise to make time for my wonderful fiance and not forget all about him while I'm away at college.'"

I roll my eyes exasperatedly. "I promise."

Valentine pouts when he realizes I'm not going to repeat his speech. "Spoil sport...you promise?"

"Valentine, I just said 'I promise'." I barely get the words out before he gives me a quick kiss.

He backs away and holds up three fingers, grinning. "That's _three_ times you promised. Now!" he claps his hands together and searches our surroundings. "Let's see if we can find the ellusive _blue_ pixies!"


End file.
